Should Bison Leaving Yellowstone National Park Be Shot?

Back to Map Page December, 1998 Winter's return raises unsolved problem of bison management policy As winter begins in Yellowstone National Park, worries are rising about a replay of confrontations in recent winters over managing the park's bison. During the winter of 1997 heavy snow in the park drove hungry bison beyond the park's boundaries, where, despite widespread protest, they were shot by Montana's Department of Livestock. Bison do not recognize Yellowstone's legal boundaries, but Montana's officials of livestock management do. Once they leave the park, bison on public lands fall under the jurisdiction of state officials, and state policy dictates that bison must not roam freely outside the park.   Without natural borders, Yellowstone's bison can wonder into three states.         More than 1,000 of the park's approximately 3,500 bison were captured and shot in the winter of 1997 for leaving the park, many of them following plowed park roads into the area of Gardiner or West Yellowstone (see map). Another 1,000 died of starvation and related causes within the park that year. With last winter's milder weather the kill was small, only 11 animals. But policies have remained unchanged, and another severe winter could lead to another sizable slaughter. This prospect has raised alarms as winter has approached again this year. In the fall of 1998 the herd numbered about 2,000, much less than two years ago, but still the largest remaining free-roaming bison herd in the world. The principal reason for shooting wandering bison is the fear that the animals might carry brucellosis, a disease that can cause some cows carrying their first calves to spontaneously abort. In theory, brucellosis is transferable to privately-owned cattle, which also graze on public lands. However transmission from wild bison to domestic cattle has never been documented, and it is unlikely that more than a small percentage of wild bison carry the disease. Studies indicate that the only way to transmit the disease between animals is exposure to fresh, infected afterbirth tissues, immediately after an infected cow calves. Further decreasing the likelihood of transmission is that bison have left the park mainly in mid-winter, while cows graze the park's boundaries only in summer. Despite these low risk factors, the bison-killing policy remains in effect. By early January 1999, the Montana Department of Livestock had slaughtered 8 bison that had wandered into the West Yellowstone area.    The bison controversy is closely tied to another controversial public lands debate: grazing on public lands. Below-cost grazing allotments are a long-standing and fiercely defended tradition on public lands in the West. In the area where bison have wandered from Yellowstone National Park there are about 2,000 cattle grazing on public and private lands, with permits generating about $5,000 altogether. This fall the US Forest Service proposed construction of a $500,000 bison trap to catch wandering bison. Some critics argue that this is a high cost to defend a relatively small number of cattle already grazing below cost on public lands. During the autumn of 1998 the National Park Service held a series of 13 public meetings in major cities across the country to gather opinions on bison management policy. Comments at these meetings overwhelmingly opposed the Park Serviceís existing management plan, and variety of alternative plans were proposed. For example, it could be less expensive and more appropriate to inoculate cattle against brucellosis, to test bison for the disease, to reduce cattle grazing near the park during the snowiest winter months, and to re-consider park road maintenance policiesóplowed roads make an attractive route for bison to wander out of the park. Despite protest at public meetings, the Park Service's draft environmental impact statement (draft EIS) still supports the continued capture and slaughter of bison leaving park boundaries and gives the Montana State Veterinarian, and state Department of Livestock officials control over bison on all public lands outside the Park. The mild winter so far in 1998 reduces the chances that the bison slaughter will reach the crisis proportions that it did two winters ago. However, with several months of winter to go in the high country of Montana and Wyoming, the framing of bison policy is still an important issue to watch as 1999 begins. Although the public comment period on the draft EIS ended in October 1998, continue to watch for news and updates at the following sites: For further information, see these related web sites: Press releases about Yellowstone bison (from various news sources) Intertribal Bison Cooperative news and notes (This group is a coalition of 40 Native American tribes interested in maintaining bison populations and participating in bison management.) National Wildlife Federation report and updates To read more, see Environmental Science, A Global Concern, Cunningham and Saigo, 5th ed. Yellowstone National Park: management issues, wildlife, and ecosystems: pages 320-324 National Park system and ecosystem management: page 112 Grazing fees and rangelands: page 310 Environmental Science, Enger and Smith, 6th ed. 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